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BRASILIA, 2 August 2011 - The Director-General of UNIDO, Kandeh K. Yumkella, who also chairs UN-Energy, is leading a high-level United Nations delegation on a mission to Brazil this week for consultations with the Government and key stakeholders on issues related to next year’s RIO+20 Summit.

The delegation is meeting this week, among others, with representatives of the Ministries of Industry, Environment, Foreign Affairs, Mines and Energy, and the head of Itaipu Binacional.

The mission is a direct follow-up to the 21-23 June Vienna Energy Forum which called for three key global goals to be achieved by 2030, namely, to guarantee universal energy access; improve energy efficiency by 40 per cent; and increase the share of renewable sources of energy to 30 per cent.

The UN General Assembly has declared 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. ( www.SEFA2012.org )

Members of the UN delegation include high-ranking representatives of the Office of the Secretary-General, the UN Foundation, the UN Development Programme, and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. Brazil is a world leader in the renewable energy field, generating 47 per cent of total energy supply from renewable energy, compared to the global average of 13 per cent, and 74 per cent of total electricity supply is from renewable energy (mainly hydro).

The Government of Brazil, in cooperation with civil society, has launched an "Electricty For All" initiative combined with a poverty reduction strategy to eliminate absolute poverty by 2015.

In the past two decades Brazil has created 1 million direct jobs in the renewable energy sector and 3 million jobs in related sectors while at the same time applying stringent sustainability and poverty reduction standards.

This week, Brazil also launched its new industrial policy which accords high priority to industrial expansion, poverty reduction and innovations in the energy sector.